Emergency Suspension for Fla. Lawyer Who Allegedly Used Client's $100K for Own Business

The Florida Supreme Court has issued an emergency license suspension order for a 35-year-old Tampa real estate lawyer who allegedly told a client physician to wire $100,000 into his trust account and then spent the money on his own business operations.

Scott V. Boruta, who was admitted to practice in 2003, was retained to negotiate with a bank on the client doc’s behalf, after the physician had trouble paying a promissory note. After allegedly receiving the $100,000 in his trust account in February, Boruta told his client the bank was difficult to deal with, reports the St. Petersburg Times.

Meanwhile, he told the bank his client was balking, the article says.

After the bank sued the client in July, the physician hired another lawyer. When that attorney asked Boruta to put the $100,000 in another trust account, he allegedly admitted it had been spent in a failed debt-collection operation, according to the newspaper.

The article doesn’t include any comment from Boruta. A message left by the ABA Journal on an apparent work number listed for a Scott V. Boruta in Tampa by a lawyers directory did not receive an immediate response.